Botanical Pocket Page Tutorial

Hello everyone! Today I am sharing an art journal page on the Sizzix blog, with a little tutorial. It was made with Tim Holtz dies, stamps and papers.

 

This page is about nature, so I was aiming for an organic and textured feel to it. Sometimes, you might not want your journaling to be visible, or you might have too much to say so there isn't enough space. Then, a pocket is the perfect solution. This die cut and stamped Pocket Envelope would also work great for hidden journaling on a scrapbooking page or as an interactive element on a card.

 

To see the tutorial and close-up photos, head over to the Sizzix blog.

 

Thank you for stopping by!!

 

Anna-Karin

 

Gelli Print Spring Mini-Book

Hi and welcome to my blog! This week at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog we are focusing on big stamps. I love large background stamps because they are so versatile.

 

This week I made a mini book with some spring photos. I used Darkroom Door background stamps together with my gelli plate to make textured backgrounds. I ended up making so many that I decided to make a mini book, and I still have lots of leftovers. I tend to make a lot of backgrounds every time I use my gelli plate because it is so much fun.

 

Let's look at some of the backgrounds first. I brayered Distress Paint on my small gelli plate. Here I used Picked Raspberry and Salty Ocean. Press the stamp into the paint and remove. Place a paper on top and get the first print (to the right on the photo). Place a second piece of paper on top of the plate and pull the ghost print. I used Neenah Smooth Solar White cardstock for the prints.

Here I used Picked Raspberry and Dusty Concord together with the Harlequin stamp. Remember to clean your stamp immediately after using it with paint, so that the paint doesn't dry on the stamp. For more gelli printing inspiration check out these posts of mine: Gel Printing with Dies and Embossing Folders, Jump Art Journal Page, and Dotty Gelli Print ATC Book.

For these prints I used Salty Ocean and Mowed Lawn together with the Peeled Paint background stamp. After you pressed the stamp on the gelli plate, stamp it directly on a piece of paper. This is a great way of stamping with paint, since stamps can be a bit tricky to evenly 'ink' with paint. Both papers at the bottom were stamped in this way.

A fun version of this technique is to also use stencils. Here I used the great Leaves stencil by Simon Says Stamp. Brayer paint on the gelli plate, place the stencil on top and then the stamp. That way, the stamped texture only appears in the open areas on the stencil. Remove the stamp and the stencil and pull two prints. The ghost print here were one of my favourites.

On these prints, I did the same thing, using Wendy Vecchi's Never Enough Hearts stencil and the Harlequin background stamp. The ghost print is to the left. As you can see, the stencil isn't as wide as the gelli plate, leaving two borders, an effect that I really liked.

These prints were done in the same way, with a Hero Arts stencil and Broken China and Mowed Lawn paints.

One more example, this time using yellow and blue together with a circle stencil. The grid stamp looks great used like this and I liked the combination of circles and grids.

One last example, with Tim Holtz Star stencil and again the grid stamp. I left these prints for another project.

 

I used mat board for the covers and covered it with printed papers. The papers were stamped with various background stamps. Here you can see the new great French Script Texture stamp. The Vintaj bird was die cut from cardstock that had been covered with foil tape. The die cuts and embosses the bird at the same time. I coloured it with Patina ink and burnished to reveal some of the metal.

The title was stamped with the Darkroom Door Scratched Alphabet and Hero Arts Basic Lowercase Letters, using Archival Fern Green. It translates to 'spring feelings'.

 

I am not going to share every single page, because then this post will be too long. I embellished the book with stamping, die cuts and washi tape, keeping the pages pretty flat. I taped two printed papers together back to back to form each page in the book.

 

 This bird is so cute. Archival Ink gets a great matte look on the Distress Paint prints.

 

I used sentiment stamps as part of my journaling, but also added more handwritten journaling after I took these photos. Love this tree die by Simon Says Stamp. I used leftover gelli prints for the die cuts.

The gelli prints make great backgrounds for mini books. Here I used the Chicken Wire stamp to add more texture. The 'happy' die is another favourite of mine. The sentiment comes from New York Vol. 2.

The first flowers came out really early this year and I had fun taking photos of them. The die cut branch is the die version of the Leaves stencil used earlier. I die cut it from a few different papers and used here and there in the book.

This is the opposite page to the one above, also using the Harlequin printed paper.

Few things are more interesting than exploring a garden. I love the new Darkroom Door Gum Trees set, it also has great sentiments.

 

A favourite sentiment of mine and a pancake picnic outdoors.

 

This sentiment and the birds come from the Love Birds set. All the little stars and hearts I used in the album were die cut with Simon Says Stamp Holiday Shapes and Mini Hearts set. 

The yellow and blue prints didn't totally fit into the book, but I wanted to use these anyway. The Heart Parade is such a great die. I stamped a few words inside the hearts and added a few solid hearts.

The opposite page to the previous one, with the darker print, and a fun large Simon Says Stamp sentiment.

There were a lot of Snowdrops, waiting to be captured on camera.

I really like the way the Fern Green stamped tree looks on this background, as if it is part of the print.

I love this quote and it was perfect for this album. The bird stamped with green also looks really nice on the green background.

Finally, this is the back of the mini-book, using one last print, more stamping and some washi tape.

I hope you will join us in our 'big stamp' challenge this week. As every week, one participant, randomly drawn, wins a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp.

Thank you for looking at this long post!

Happy Crafting!

Anna-Karin

 

Supplies:
Surfaces: Neenah Smooth Solar White Cardstock; Ranger Foil Tape; Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Collage Mini 8 x 8 paper stash; Core'dinations Tim Holtz Color-Core cardstock
Stamps: Simon Says Stamp: Shoot for the Stars, Beautiful Words; Darkroom Door: Chicken Wire, Grid Background, Peeled Paint, Harlequin Background, Floral Texture, French Script Texture, Gum Trees, Trees, Love Birds, Bold Blossoms, Wildflowers Vol. 1, Wildflowers Vol. 2, Full Bloom Vol. 2, Scratched Alphabet, Photography, Enjoy the Ride, New York Vol. 1, New York Vol. 2, Home Sweet Home, Wilderness Vol. 1; Hero Arts: Basic Lowercase Letters; Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous: Simple Sayings
Dies: Simon Says Stamp: All Seasons Tree, Mini Hearts Set, Life, Family, Love, Large Holiday Shapes, Holiday Shapes, Happy, Heart Parade, Clustered Leaves, Sizzix/Vintaj: Exotic Bird; Impression Obsession: Bird Set; Memory Box: Delicate Branch Frame
Ink: Ranger Archival Ink: Fern Green, Leaf Green, Vermillion, Jet Black; Ranger/Vintaj Patina Ink: Weathered Copper
Paint: Distress Paint: Broken China, Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint, Picked Raspberry, Dusty Concord, Mustard Seed
Stencils: Simon Says Stamp: Leaves; Tim Holtz: Stars; Hero Arts: Irregular Checkerboard; The Crafter's Workshop: Mini Circle Regiment: Wendy Vecchi: Never Enough Hearts
Embellishments: Kelly Purkey Washi Tape; Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Elements Tissue Tape, Merriment Tissue Tape, Symphony TissueTape
Tool: Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate 6 x 6; Sizzix Big Shot; We R Memory Keepers Crop-a-dile; Ranger Large Inky Roller

Rolling Green Hills Scenic Stamping

Hi stampers! I've been in a green spring mood lately, and today I am sharing a green scene I made for this month's Craft a Scene challenge, Hills & Mountains. My first scene for this month was a mountain scene and now I did a scene with rolling hills.

 

The scene is a half sheet (5.5 x 8 in) and done on glossy cardstock. I used some of my favourite Stampscapes stamps, and tried to create the look of rolling green hills. Distance and perspective are important on this scene and achieved by making the scene darker towards the front. Most of the stamping was done with various green Archival Inks (Fern Green and Leaf Green), using the lighter inks in the distance. The hills furthest away were stamped with second generation stamping, stamping on a scrap paper first. The cabin, walkers and sentiment were stamped with Jet Black ink.

 

I coloured the scene with dye inks, using a Colorbox Stylus tool (check this tutorial, where I also used some of the same stamps). As usual, I started with the lightest ink, Adirondack Willow and gradually added darker green inks, but still keeping the scene light. By leaving the area just behind a hill light, you also add to the sense of perspective.

 

In the front of the scene there is a little pond, so that I could reflect the colours of the sky somewhere and break up all the green a little bit. The area around the pond was stamped with the Sedge Filler stamp, which I also used to add grass here and there in areas not stamped with the three hill stamps. Highlights were added with a white gel pen and a little bit of shine, especially in between the hills, with white pigment ink.

Thank you for looking! There is still plenty of time to join us in this month's challenge.

Happy stamping!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Stamps: Stampscapes: Migrating Birds 152D, Hiker and Child 165A, Oak Row 223F, Oaks and Mist 224F, Cabin 248A, Sedge Filler 251C, Prickly Branches 272G, Soft Hill 278F, Pond 279F, Sentiment Sheet
Ink: Ranger Adirondack: Aqua, Willow, Lettuce, Oregano, Lemonade, Stonewashed; Distress Ink: Peeled Paint; Archival Ink: Fern Green, Leaf Green, Jet Black; Colorbox Frost White
Surfaces: Kromekote glossy cardstock

 

 

Wood Textures Layout

Hello and Happy Easter! A new CSI:Color, Stories, Inspiration challenge is up. Darkroom Door is sponsoring CSI this month and I used some gorgeous stamps on my layout. Here's this week's case file:

 

My layout:

 

Inspired by the wooden elements on the inspiration photo I decided to use some wood patterned paper on my layout, also since I tend to not use patterned paper that much. From the evidence I used: wood, map, globe, tags and leaves. And from the testimony I journaled on tags and was inspired by the journey theme.

My layout is about playing outside and the journaling is about all our favourite things to do, just outside the door. I wrote the journaling on the back of the tag in the middle. This tree is one of the favourite places, as well as searching for all kinds of insects, feeding the ducks in the pond next door, running around, planting leaves and found seeds, playing with friends, flying kite and more.

The bird was stamped on a leftover inked tag and coloured with Inktense pencils. The title was die cut from mat board, painted and stamped with a map background stamp. It translates to 'outdoors'.

 

Three tags were die cut from manila cardstock and coloured with Distress Inks (smeared on my craft sheet and misted with water). I stamped the tags with Darkroom Door stamps: trees, a map background, a house and some sentiments.

I really like this quote. The trees were stamped with chalk ink and the rest of the stamping was done with dye inks. I also used some really old leaf buttons, which were one of my earlier supplies. My son found them the other day and wanted to keep most of them, the rest ended up on this layout.

I love this Mini Vintage Globe by Tim Holtz and have used it a lot, it fits so well with any page that has to do with exploring and learning about the world, regardless of whether it is the 'small' world just outside the door or the big world as in traveling. I die cut it from cream mat board and painted with Distress Paints, mixing Broken China and Pine Tree to get the right teal colour. It was stamped with the map background stamp and I die cut the continents a second time from natural sticky-back canvas.

This little bird was also stamped on a leftover tag and coloured with Inktense pencils. The leaves were die cut from natural sticky-back canvas and inked.

 

Thank you for looking! I hope you can join us this week!

 

Happy crafting!

 

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Surfaces: Ranger: Manila Cardstock, Natural Sticky-Back Canvas; Sizzix Little Sizzles Cream Mat Board 6 x 13; Kaisercraft Base Coat, Base Coat III 12 x 12 patterned paper
Dies: Sizzix: Garden Greens, Tag & Bookplates, Vintage Fan & Globe, Vintage Market XL, Butterfly Frenzy
Stamps: Darkroom Door: Trees, Gum Trees, Map Background, Doors, Home Sweet Home, Love Birds
Ink: Ranger Archival Ink: Jet Black; Distress Ink: Pumice Stone, Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Shabby Shutters, Gathered Twigs; Versamagic: Tea Leaves; Memento: Teal Zeal
Paint: Distress Paint: Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Broken China, Pine Needles
Pencils: Derwent Inktense Pencils
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Cream & Black Trimmings; 7Gypsies Masking Tape; leaf buttons

Reading Chair

Hello everyone! I still have some CHA samples to share, that I made for Eileen Hull using her Sizzix Cherished Collection.

 

This is a cozy fabric-covered reading chair made with the 3-D Chair die. I used Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements fabric to cover the mat board chair and just added some simple embellishment and ink. This is such a fun die, and can fit lots of themes. You can choose whether you use the rocking chair feet or not and you can made the seat into a little box and fill with a gift or sweets. 



The chair was die cut from cream mat board and I used a glue stick to glue fabric to the mat board. The large part was covered back and front. I frayed the edges and inked with Gathered Twigs. The rocking chair feet were also inked with Gathered Twigs.

 

Assemble the chair using strong adhesive. I also added a few mini staples, to make sure everything was safely stuck.

Since the Scoreboards dies both cuts and scores the material, it is very easy to assemble the chair.

 

As you know, I like adding photos to my projects and I had the perfect photo for this project, of my son reading in the sofa. I also cut a little pillow from cream felt.

A Chit Chat sticker and two gears gave the finishing touches.

 

Thank you for looking!

 

Happy Crafting!

 

Anna-Karin

 

Supplies:

Dies: Sizzix: 3-D Chair

Surface: Sizzix Little Sizzles Cream Mat Board 6 x 13

Fabric: Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements
Ink: Distress Ink: Gathered Twigs
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Sprocket Gears, Mini Gears, Long Fasteners, Chit Chat stickers



Spring Bird Burlap Panel

Hi and welcome! This week we are taking flight at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog with our Winged Things challenge.

My project this week is a textured bird burlap panel using mainly green and yellow, because I was in a spring mood. I love birds and wanted to ink up Tim Holtz Bird Feather stamp set again. For the background, I used Wendy Vecchi's new Crackled Texture Paste, which I have been having fun with lately (check out my Tall Grungy Houses and Crackled Frameworks tutorials). I took some step photos.

I started by smearing gesso on a 4 x 6 burlap panel.

When the gesso was dry, I smeared Crackled Textured Paste on the canvas, making it thicker in some places and thinner in other.

When the paste dries, crackles appear. I painted it with watered-down Distress Paints (Mustard Seed, Bundle Sage, Peeled Paint).

The crackle background was stamped with Archival Ink and a text background stamp. I made sure that the word 'art' would be visible in three places.

The bird was inked with Saffron, Leaf Green and Fern Green, starting with the lightest ink. I stamped it on Specialty Stamping Paper.

I covered grungeboard with Tim Holtz patterned paper. The smaller 8 x 8 prints work great for this, since the patterns are smaller and work better on die cuts. Two leafy branches were die cut.

The branches were inked with Distress Ink, not covering them completely.

I made a nest for the bird with dyed crinkle ribbon and Linen ribbon. If you pull the linen ribbon sideways, it gets broader and gets a more random look. I also frayed the edges.

For a sentiment, I used a Word Band with yellow paint rubbed into the words. The burlap panels have a wood background, which means that you can screw things into them, and I used a Screw Eye to hang the Swivel Clasp from.

A wood veneer potty lady stands on one of the leaves.

The Crackled Paste gives such a cool texture and it looks great together with the burlap.

From the Swivel Clasp, an Ornate Plate is hanging. It was painted with Distress Paints and sanded slightly when dry. I placed a small childhood photo of myself in the frame, taken during spring. There is a transparency in front of the photo, to protect it.

The Sprocket Gear was also painted with Distress Paint. I cut a small yellow circle, added a rub-on to it and placed it in a Memo Pin. It was coated with Glossy Accents for shine and when dry, placed within the gear, to look like a flower.

I hope you will join us this week in our Feathered challenge and don't miss checking out the wonderful projects by my fellow DT members. As always, one random participant wins a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp.

Happy crafting!!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Surfaces: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Burlap Panels 4 x 6, Grungeboard, Menagerie 8 x 8 paper stash; Ranger Specialty Stamping Paper
Dies: Sizzix: Garden Greens
Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz: Bird Feather, Classics #4
Ink: Ranger Archival Ink: Fern Green, Leaf Green, Saffron; Distress Ink: Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive
Paint: Distress Paint: Peeled Paint, Mustard Seed, Bundled Sage
Medium: Wendy Vecchi Stampers Anonymous: Crackled Textured Paste; Dina Wakley Ranger White Gesso
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Word Bands, Crinkle Ribbon, Linen Ribbon, Memo Pins, Swivel Clasps, Sprocket Gears, Screw Eyes, Ornate Plates; Studio Calico Wood Veneer: Potty People